


Old Remedies

by Artan



Series: Fluency AU [3]
Category: Zootopia
Genre: F/M, Language, Recovery, Traditional Medecine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 12:46:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7892962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artan/pseuds/Artan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While asprin is certainly effective, there is sometimes nothing like the medicine from your youth.   In this case however, nobody uses a spoonful of sugar.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Old Remedies

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Fluent](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6896473) by [WildBurr](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WildBurr/pseuds/WildBurr). 



> Italics are Lapine  
> Bold are Vulpine

It wasn’t the first time Nick was sick, there were plenty of other occasions Judy could think of.  All of those however seemed minor compared to the fever he had now.  Perhaps all those other times she never knew just how important that fox was to her.  He had been complaining of a headache the previous day, but had soldiered through patrol.  This morning however was a different story.  He clearly was in no condition to go into work.  Fever, nausea, and a raging headache all conspired to keep him under the weather.  All alone, Judy performed the requisite paperwork that policing entailed.  Finally it was time for her to return home and nurse her ailing mate.  Before arriving at the apartment however she had a pair of calls to make.

Bonnie answered on the third ring as Judy walked to the Metro platform.  “ _Hey honey bunny, how are things?_ ”  “ _Fine.  I just need some help though._ ”  Concern shot through the older rabbit’s voice as she replied.  “ _What is it?  Do you need us to help?  I can-_ ”  “ _Mom!  Its about Nick._ ”  “ _Is everything ok between you two?_ ”  “ _Of course.  He is just sick with a fever.  I was hoping you could tell me some of the plants you used to use for fevers when we were kits._ ”  “ _Honestly, that was mostly the aspirin, but there are a few traditional remedies you could try._ ”  “ _Such as?_ ”  “ _White Willow bark is a good start, get him to chew some of that and it should help relieve the aches and pains._ ”  “ _Anything else?_ ”  “ _Feverfew is always useful, along with meadowsweet and peppermint._ ”  “ _Sounds good._ ”  “ _I do have one more herb, but you may not like it._ ”  “ _What?_ ”  “ _Catnip._ ”  Judy breathed a sigh of relief before she realized what exactly her mother said.  “ _Wait, Nip?  Isn’t that a Class B botanical?_ ”  “ _You studied law far more than anyone else in the family, bun, so you know best there._ ”  “ _Just curious, but who taught you all these plants?_ ”  “ _Gran Gran, but she learned from her mother and so on down the line._ ”  “ _Cool, thanks._ ”  “ _No problem, bun.  I hope Nick feels better soon._ ”  “ _Well, with some of these he should feel better sooner._ ”  “ _Call again soon honey, we would love to hear from both you and Nick._ ”  “ _Will do Mom.  Bye._ ”  “ _Bye._ ”  One call down, one more to go.

The Metro was rumbling along as Judy made her other call.  “ **Hello, Matron Wilde?  This is Judy Hopps.** ”  “ **Hello daughter, is everything alright?”**   It seemed mothers could just sense when something was wrong, even when you spoke a language that wasn’t you mother tongue.  “ **I need some help.  Nick has a fever and has taken the next few days off.  I was hoping you knew of some traditional remedies that I could try?** ”  “ **I remember some things that my mother taught me.  Have you tried Ginger or Feverfew?** ”  “ **Sorry, I didn’t understand that.  Could we use Common for a bit?** ”  “Better?”  “Much, sorry about that.”  “No need to apologize, you speak so well there are times I forget you aren’t a native speaker.  Now, I would suggest using Ginger or Feverfew for a start.”  “Funny, my mother also suggested Feverfew.  She also suggested peppermint, meadowsweet, and strangely enough catnip.”  Marie Anne barked a laugh at the last suggestion.  “Unless you want my son to feel better in a different way, I wouldn’t recommend that last one.”  “Really?  I thought only felines got high off Nip.”  “We have a smaller reaction to it.  Mostly it just becomes very **interesting** to us, not quite as intoxicating as it would be to cats.”  “Thanks for telling me.  I wasn’t planning on using any in the first place, but I never knew that.”  “Are you looking for things other than herbs though?  I have a few ideas.  Old foxes always though a fever was an imbalance of one’s **inner fire**.”  “ **Inner fire?** ”  “Something like the spirit, you know the legend of the Nameless Fox?”  “Of course, Nick told me.”   “The sun’s fire that he carried on his tail was believed to have been passed to the spirit of every fox that followed him.  If one’s **inner fire** became too strong you would burn up from the inside.  Because of that, the most common methods to cure fever involved cooling the sick mammal.  Personally I have two suggestions.  Either get him in a lukewarm bath or wrap him in a cool, wet sheet.”  “Oh, those are new to me.  Thanks!”  “ **Oh, one more thing.  If you have some spare time, I would love to have you over to talk.  I have to thank you for turning my son’s life around.** ”  “ **I will be sure to let you know when the opportunity arises.  Thank you for the remedies Matron Wilde, I will see what I need to do to help Nick get better.** ”  “ **Not a problem, but please, just call me Marie.  We foxes may have a tendency for formality, but it is more important to know when to be familiar.  Especially with family, daughter.** ”  Judy smiled and blushed slightly as she responded  “ **Certainly Mat- Marie.  I will call you if anything changes.** ”  “ **Please do, I hope to see you soon.** ”  “ **Same to you.** ”  With that, she just had to gather the herbs that had been recommended to her.  There were a few stores along the walk to the apartment that were bound to have what she was looking for, and one store she would avoid even if it was the last one in the whole city.

Judy returned to two competing scents filling the apartment, fox and sweat.  It seemed like Nick’s fever hadn’t subsided during the day.  She found him half asleep on the couch.  As she stroked his ears she noticed he had taken one of her pillows.  “You doing ok, Nick?”  He muttered something indistinct as she took his temperature.  104 degrees Furenheit, it had risen slightly while she had been gone.  “What did you say?”  She asked.  “Missed you during the day.”  He mumbled.  “Took your pillow, smells like you.”  Judy smiled and nearly kissed him.  Instead, she scratched him behind the ears, something he loved.  “I talked with both of our parents on the way home today and they suggested a few remedies.”  She moved to the kitchen and began boiling water.  Most of the herbs would make a tea in order for Nick to take advantage of their benefits.

Everything went into the tea except for the willow bark.  Honestly, it wasn’t the most pleasant smelling concoction but it came with about a hundred years of Lapine traditional clout behind it.  At the bottom of the tea was some chopped ginger, hopefully it would be enough to work.  She passed the mug to her mate and watched as he took a sip.  His eyes widened and he coughed, then stuck out his tongue.  “Rabbit, I think I know why you haven’t used a single sick day.”  He said weakly.  “This tastes terrible.”  Judy’s ears fell, but despite his protests Nick downed the entire mug.

Hours later Judy checked on her Fox again, he was still running a temperature of around 104.  While he wasn’t complaining about his symptoms anymore something needed to be done about the fever itself.  It wasn’t a serious emergency, but it wasn’t healthy.  Judy set the ear thermometer onto a side table and carefully maneuvered Nick into the bathroom.  “Here let me get you cooled down.”  She said as she began filling the bathtub.  Nick muttered something indistinct, probably in vulpine as the tepid water steadily rose.  Once the tub was full, Judy helped him into the water.  He sighed as the seemingly cool water permeated his fur.  As he lay in the water soaking, Judy made certain to wet the back of ears.  About ten minutes later she took his temperature again.  This time it was 102, a much safer number.  “ **You know how much I love you, right Fluff?** ”  Nick asked quietly.  “ **Of course I do.** ”  She replied,  “ **But right now I need you to get better.  I can only do deskwork for so long before I go crazy.** ”  With that she began to carefully get him out of the lukewarm water.  Her aversion to nudity had been addressed months ago, or at least just for him.

Nick installed himself on the cough for the night, despite Judy’s efforts otherwise.  Although some ancient, instinctual part of him wanted to stay awake, he quickly fell asleep.  Judy was still awake hours later, trying to sleep.  Her mate’s self-imposed quarantine had removed the comforting presence she had become accustomed to over the past few months.  After tossing and turning she got up and decided to check on Nick.  Amidst the bars of pale moonlight that filtered through the blinds, she found him partially under a sheet.  He had managed to burry his muzzle into the pillow he wrapped himself around, much the same way he acted when they snuggled.  She scratched him behind the ears, before running her paw along his jawbone.  Even in his sleep he pressed against her touch.  Then, in time honored _warren-mother_ fashion, she checked his ear temperature.  He wasn’t panting heavily or sweating anymore, which were good signs.  Suitably reassured and with the comforting scent of her mate on her paw, she went back to bed.  Sleep came quickly, for the worst of Nick’s fever had passed.

**Author's Note:**

> This was interesting to write. I had to look up symptoms of illness in dogs, and then used the treatment that was suggested for the Vulpine end of things. Lapine however, is based on herbs that were traditionally used to cure fever. So, yes. Catnip tea does help cure fever, I can't speak on its effects on your housecat however.


End file.
